The bright spot is the comet's center, which consists of a solid core of ice, rock and dust. The core is usually shrouded in a glowing cloud of dust and gas known as a coma.
WITH Comet 3I/ATLAS was first discovered in Julyit aroused great interest among astronomers and space enthusiasts. The object has even given rise to outlandish theories that it could be extraterrestrial technology or an alien spacecraft, although there is no scientific evidence to support such claims.
The comet won't stay here.
Astronomers studying its movement say the object's orbital path will take it through the inner Solar System in the coming weeks, with the comet reaching its closest point to the Sun around October 30.
According to NASA, 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth and will remain approximately 170 million miles away during its flyby.
However, its much closer approach to Mars presented a unique opportunity.
The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, jointly operated by ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency, pointed its camera at the comet for about a week starting on October 1, ESA said. At this time, 3I/ATLAS was approximately 18.6 million miles from the spacecraft.
But the orbiter's instruments were designed to photograph the surface of Mars, not objects millions of miles away, said Nick Thomas, principal investigator for the spacecraft's imaging system.
“It was a very difficult observation for the instrument,” he says the statement. “The comet is about 10,000 to 100,000 times fainter than our normal target.”
Two other interstellar objects that have been confirmed as visitors from outside our solar system were 'Oumuamua in 2017 and Comet 2I/Borisov in 2019.
“Every planet, moon, asteroid, comet and life form in our solar system has a common origin,” ESA said in a statement. “But interstellar comets are the real outsiders, carrying clues about the formation of worlds far beyond ours.”
As 3I/ATLAS passes through the Solar System, astronomers are eager to study its size and physical properties. The object was visible to ground-based telescopes earlier this year, but is now too close to the Sun to be observed. It is expected to reappear on the other side of the Sun by early December, according to NASA.
In controlled 3i/atlas using the Hubble Space Telescope summer and plans additional observations in the coming months. Spacecraft and observatories hoping to see the object include the James Webb Space Telescope, the SPHEREx space observatory, the Parker Solar Probe and the Transiting Exoplanet Satellite.
A The photo was taken Saturday by the camera on NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars. caught a streak of light sparks speculation online that the white spot could be comet 3I/ATLAS. But NASA has not confirmed whether this is the case, and the agency's public affairs office is closed as a result of the government shutdown.
Avi Loeb, a theoretical astrophysicist at Harvard University, frequently writes online about Comet 3I/ATLAS and even raises questions about whether it could be created artificially. But in a recent interview with NBC News Now, Loeb dismissed conspiracy theories that NASA is keeping secrets about the interstellar object.
“Some people have asked me about the government shutdown, whether there is some kind of conspiracy to hide data from the public,” Loeb said. “And I said that the delay is not a sign of extraterrestrial intelligence, it is rather a sign of terrestrial stupidity.”
Gadi Schwartz contributed.
